Alone on the ice waiting for the music to start, the two Greenwich figure skaters each dealt with nerves in their own way

Tracey Lewis, 10, said she has a mental list of her moves she checks off during her two-minute solo performance

"I kind of focus on one thing. I have this checklist in my head and I check it off after each move that I do," Tracey, a Byram resident, said after skating in the Greenwich Town Competition Sunday.

"I go up to my double (salchow) in my first jump and then I think, `OK now I did my double (salchow) and now I have to do my double loops combinations,' " she said. "I do remember there are people around me but I kind of focus on what I am trying to do,

Old Greenwich resident Lizzie Essaid, 12, said she shakes off nervousness after looking at her coach, Liz Leamy.

"When I hit that first pose I get nervous, but when the music starts I don't really think about anything, my mind goes blank," she said. "You don't really notice the people or the judges you just skate."

Liz Leamy said that when it comes to the performance there isn't a need for any last-minute coaching.

"That's where our work comes in because as coaches you want to make sure that Lizzie and the other girls are prepared so that when they go out there it is automatic pilot," she said. "The job's already done as far as I am concerned."

Leamy said she began to work with Essaid four years ago after spotting an enthusiastic skater on the ice at the Boys & Girls Club.

"I saw this happy little girl and she seemed to like it," Leamy said. "She was good. She just seemed to be thrilled to be out on the ice."

Windy Hill President Christiane Abbott said a rise in participants from 104 skaters last year was partially due to the closure of the Playland Ice Casino, at Rye, N.Y., Playland amusement park has been closed following damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Abbott agrees with Leamy agreed that preparation and training are the keys to overcoming nerves.

"A tremendous part of it is the training and the muscle memory. Their bodies, their muscles, remember what needs to happen so they don't have to think it through as much," Abbott said.

She said the mental aspect comes into play not only in striving to perform at a high level but in competing against people who are often friends.

"When it comes to being out on the ice they have to put that aside," Abbott said.

Alexia Paganini of the Rye Figure Skating Club collected first place in the Dorothy Hamill Cup with Annalisa McGuinness from the Hickory Hill Skating Club (Katonah, N.Y.), and Brooke Adler, from the Clinton, N.Y., Figure Skating Club picking up second and third. The cup, named for the Greenwich Olympic gold medalist, is awarded to skaters from the juvenile freestyle level or above who show the most potential.

Glenville's Sherlynn Rose Arcuri, 9, was one of two winners of the seventh annual Barbara Boruchoff Winer Memorial Award handed out to two skaters each year. The award is named after a former Greenwich resident who was heavily involved in figure skating.

A complete list of results was not available Sunday night.

Sherlynn, who has been skating for two years, collected the award and the $500 that comes with it for showing potential in figure skating. She said she loves jumping while skating.

"You have to have a lot of speed and you get high in the air," she said.

The other recipient was Christie Du, 13, of Scarsdale, N.Y. A $500 award recognized her work ethic.

The monetary awards are intended to be used to offset some of the cost of skating.

Essaid said it is hard to describe the thrill of figure skating, but said it is a joy to perform alone on the ice.

"You're just gliding and if you are going fast you can feel the wind and it just feels amazing," Essaid said.